Grid for suspended tile ceilings and suspension means therefor



Dec. 24, 1968 J. l. ZUCKERMAN GRID FOR SUSPENDED TILE CEILINGS ANDSUSPENSION MEANS THEREFOR Filed Sept. 23, 1966 H W w W 2 1 I M a,

United States Patent 3,417,535 GRID FO-R SUSPENDED THLE CETLINGS ANDSUSPENSION MEANS THEREFOR Jack I. Zuckerman, 4525 Henry Hudson Parkway,Bronx, N.Y. 16471 Filed Sept. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 531,611 9 flaims. (Cl.52650) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE In a grid for a suspended tileceiling, the combination of a tile-supporting runner including anupright section having a suspender-engaging bead of substantiallytriangular cross-section on its edge, with its apex at the top, andhaving a bottom wall which is inwardly indented, and a suspensionelement comprising a metal strip, twisted at its center to dispose itsend portions at right angles to one another, one end portion having ahook for suspending the element; the other end portion slitted toprovide at least two sections which are divergently spread with theirends inwardly offset and their edges spaced a distance less than thewidth of the base of the bead and adapted to have the bead snap-fittedon the element between them.

The present invention relates to suspended tile ceilings, such asacoustical or like tile ceilings, and more particularly to thestructural elements for supporting the tiles in suspended relation tothe true ceiling of a structure.

Suspended tile ceilings, of the character to which the present inventonrelates, generally consist of a tile-supporting grid formed of spaced,parallel elongated main runners of inverted T-shape and of spaced,parallel, likewise inverted, T-shaped transverse elements connectedbetween each of two adjacent main runners; the flanges of the main andconnecting runners serving to support the tiles. Such grids have beensuspended from the true ceiling of structures in various, relativelycomplex, time-consuming ways which required special fabrication of thegrid elements, or the use of clips for securing the runners to theceiling or to the furring secured to the true ceiling. All methodsheretofore used for suspending the grid from the true ceiling had incommon that they required the use of tools, which is a laborious andtime-consuming procedure, especially when performed at the top of aladder or scaffolding, and added greatly to the cost of such suspendedtile ceilings.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to providerunners for the tile-supporting grid of suspended tile ceilings andsuspension elements for such runners which may be easily and rapidlyassembled with one another without the use of any connecting elementsand without the use of any tools.

It is another object of the present invention to provide grid-formingrunner and suspension elements therefor which, when assembled, willsafely and securely remain in assembled relation and safely and securelysupport the ceiling-forming tiles.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide the structuralelements for the tile-supporting grid of a suspended tile ceiling, ofthe character described, which are sturdy and rigid and will not bend orsag or otherwise become distorted.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide structuralelements for forming a tile-supporting grid for suspended tile ceilings,of the character described, which will provide substantial economies intime, labor, and cost of building such ceilings.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the structural gridelements for suspended tile ceilings, of

the present invention, will become more readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the embodiments thereof shown in theaccompanying drawing, and from the description following. It is to beunderstood, however, that such embodiments are shown by way ofillustration only, to make the principles and practice of the inventionmore readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting theinvention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, isometric view of a grid-forming runner andsuspension element therefor, of the present invention, shown assuspended from a furring beam; the latter shown in broken lines; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken online 22 of FIG. 1.

Generally stated, the present invention resides in the provision of gridrunners and runner-suspension hooks or elements which may be assembledwith one another by a snap-fit and safely and securely maintained insuch assembly.

More specifically stated, and with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, the runner of the invention, generally designated as 10, ispreferably of unitary construction; formed of a strip of sheet metal,preferably coated, as with enamel or zinc, which is fabricated and bentinto T-shape to provide a cross-piece section, 12, and then re-entrantlybent half-way of the width of the cross-piece 12, and then bent again tonormal relation to the crosspiece 12 to form the upright web, 14.

The outer end portion of the web 14 may be slightly, laterally offsetrelative to the inner portion thereof, as at 18, a distance preferablynot greater than the thickness of the sheet metal material. A stiffeningbead, generally designated as 15, of substantially triangularcross-section, which may also serve as a suspension means for the runner10, may be formed at the outer end of the web section 14 by offsettingthe integral extension of the metal strip laterally and slightlydownwardly, in the direction of offset 18, to form a first bottomportion, 20, of the bead, and then offset upwardly and inwardly to apoint above the end of the web section 14, to form a first side, 22, ofthe bead, and then downwardly and outwardly at an equal angle to thesection 14 with the bead side 22 to form a second side, 24, of the bead,and then inwardly at an equal angle to the section 14 as the bottomportion 20 to form a second half of the bottom portion, 26, and thendownwardly to form an upright portion lying against the offset endportion of the section 14. The free edge portion of the runner section12 may, if desired, be folded over on itself to form a stiffening lip(not shown), as is conventional.

The suspension element or unit is generally designated as 30 and islikewise formed of a strip or bar of sheet metal, which is shaped tohave a hook section at one end for engaging from a furring beam, 32. Thefurring beam is shown to comprise a channel-shaped bar disposed on aside thereof, and the hook section of the suspension element 30 isformed by laterally offsetting one end portion, 34, of the strip, of alength slightly greater than a side of the furring beam 32 and theninwardly offsetting the end, 36, to be normal to the offset portion 34.A struck-out tongue, 38, is formed in the metal strip at a distance fromthe hook portion 34 equal to the height of the web of the furring beam32, which tongue 38 is directed away from portion 34 and is offset at anangle in the direction of hook portion 36.

Runner-engaging means are provided at the opposed end of the suspensionelement strip, such runner-engaging means being formed by slitting thestrip longitudinally, offsetting the adjacent slit portions in oppositedirections, at an acute angle to one another, and then bending theirends inwardly towards one another, and slightly upwardly. In theillustrated embodiment, the other end portion of the strip formingsuspension element 30 is doubly slit to provide a center wing, 40, andtwo side wings, 42 and 44, with the latter being oppositely oifsetrelative to the former. The end portion 48 of the side Wings 42 and 44is inwardly and slightly upwardly bent in the direction of the centerwing 40, and the end portion 46 of the latter is likewise inwardly andslightly upwardly bent in the direction of the side wings 42 and 44. Thewings 40, 42 and 44 are of substantial length and the size of their bentend portions and of the angle between the wings are such that the edgesof the ends 46 and 48 are close together, and the distance between theends of the wings 40, 42 and 44 is slightly greater than the width ofthe bead 15 of the runner 10.

In assembling the runner with the suspension element 40, the bead ispressed, with its apex foremost, between the edges of the ends 46 and 48of the wings 42, 44 and 40, until the bottom thereof is inserted intothe space between the wings 40, 42 and 44 and rests upon the terminalsof the end portions 46 and 48; the suspension element being formed ofmetal having an inherent resilience which will permit the springing ofthe wings back into original position after the head has been forcedbetween the edges of their bent ends.

As runners 10 are generally suspended at right angles to the furringbeams, the strip forming the suspension element 30 is spirally twistedintermediate the hook section at one end thereof and therunner-supporting section at its other end, as at 50, to dispose thesame at right angles to one another.

This completes the description of the runners for forming atile-supporting grid for a suspended ceiling and of the elements forsuspending such runners. It will be readily apparent that by reason ofthe double thickness at the outer marginal edge portions of the web 14,of the runner and of the provisional bead 15 at its end, such runner ismaterially stiffened against bending or sagging. It will also beapparent that the runner of the invention may be quickly and easilyassembled with its supporting element by press-fitting the head into thespace between the wing ends of the latter without the use of any tools.It will likewise be apparent that because of the inward taper of thebottom of the bead and of the ends 46 and 48 of the wings 42, 44 and 40,whose edges are in close proximity to one another, the ends of the wingswill be held in close proximity to one another against separating andagainst downward displacement, to thereby safely retain the runner beadin place on the suspension elements.

It will be further apparent that numerous modifications and variationsmay be made in the structural elements for forming suspended tileceilings of the present invention by anyone skilled in the art, inaccordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth,without the exercise of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, tobe protected for any and all such variations and modifications that maybe made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the claimshereto appended.

What I claim is:

1. In a grid for a suspended tile ceiling, or the like, the combinationof a runner comprising a tile-supporting flange section and an uprightsection rising from said flange section, said upright section having ahead at its Cir free edge, said head having sides disposed at anupwardly convergent angle to one another; and a freely suspensiblesuspension element for said runner, said suspension element having arunner-engaging lower portion comprising downwardly-divergent sections,said sections each having an end portion offset inwardly in thedirection of the other with the edges of said end portions spaced atdistance apart less than the thickness of the lower part of said bead,said bead adapted to be pressed between said edges into the spacebetween said end portions to have the lower edges of said bead sidesrest on said inwardly-offset ends of said end sections.

2. The grid of claim 1, wherein said bead is integrally formed with saidupright section of said runner.

3. The grid of claim 2, wherein said head is formed with bottom wallportions extending inwardly and upwardly in the direction of the upperedge of said upright section, said offset end portions of saidsuspension element sections upwardly bent to substantially underlie saidinwardly and upwardly-extending bottom wall portions.

4. The grid of claim 1, wherein said upright section is formed with anupper marginal edge portion ofiset laterally relative to its lowerportion and said head is formed from an extension of said uprightsection, said extension olfset laterally and slightly downwardly andthen offset upwardly and inwardly in the direction of said uprightsection to a point thereabove and when downwardly and laterally and theninwardly and upwardly and then downwardly against said offset uppermarginal edge portion of said upright section.

5. The grid of claim 1, wherein said suspension element is formed of aflat strip of material, said strip having a slit formed thereinextending inwardly from its lower edge, adjacent sections of said stripto each side of said slit ofi'set diagonally in opposed directionrelative to one another, each said section having its end portion offsetin the direction of the other.

6. The grid of claim 5, wherein more than one slit is provided in theend portion of said strip.

7. The grid of claim 5, wherein means are provided at the other end ofsaid strip for engagement to a fixed structure.

8. The grid of claim 7, wherein said means comprises a hook portionadapted to engage over the upper side of a furring beam and a tongue isstruck out from said strip and bent in position to underlie theunderside of said furring beam.

9. The grid of claim 7, wherein said strip is spirally twisted to haveits runner-engaging end disposed at an angle of to itsstructure-engaging end.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 796,468 8/1905 Streeter 526651,567,211 12/1925 Tubbs 52-650 2,839,671 6/1958 Cullen 248317 XR3,063,103 11/1962 Rylander 52650 XR 3,308,288 3/1967 Ades 52664 JAMES T.MCCALL, Primary Examiner.

R. D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner.

